Apple readying fix for MacBook Air video issues

Some users of new MacBook Air models have reported video problems. Apple has …

Reports began surfacing over the weekend from users who were experiencing odd video issues with new MacBook Air models released in October. According to internal support documents obtained by Boy Genius Report, Apple has internally acknowledged the issue and is said to be working on a fix.

Two problems seem to be occurring for some users. One problem is that the screen either fills with random lines of color or with a solid grey (or sometimes tan or blue) color after waking from sleep or after plugging in an external display. The other is that the screen may fade or flicker from light to dark after waking from sleep.

The internal AppleCare memos report that the issues have both been "isolated" and will be fixed with a pending software update. AppleCare techs are being told to tell users reporting the problem that Apple is "aware of the issue and working on a solution."

As we noted in our review, we didn't experience any video problems with our 11" MacBook Air review unit. However, we did experience kernel panics related to waking from standby (as did Cult of Mac). There's no evidence that Apple has identified the cause of that issue to date.

While some suspected the issue might be faulty logic boards, the fact that the video problems can be fixed with a software update suggest it is related to driver issues. The good news is that users experiencing video problems have a simple workaround while Apple is working on the software fix: close the lid, wait 10 seconds, and open it back up. This should force a display power cycle, according to Apple, and get things up and running.